DOE clearances apply for access specifically relating to atomic or nuclear related materials ("Restricted Data" under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954). The clearance is issued predominantly to non-military personnel. In 1946 U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps Major William L. Uanna, in his capacity as the first Chief of the Central Personnel Clearance Office at the newly formed Atomic Energy Commission, named and established the criteria for the Q Clearance. The security clearance process at the DOE is adjudicated by the DOE Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) where an individual whose security clearance is at issue may seek to appeal a security clearance decision to an administrative judge and subsequently to an Appeal Panel. [2]

There are actually two types of Q clearance: Q-sensitive, abbreviated Q(S), and Q-nonsensitive, abbreviated Q(NS). The difference is that both have access to TOP SECRET Formerly Restricted Data (FRD) and National Security Information (NSI), but Q(S) can access TOP SECRET Restricted Data (RD) whereas Q(NS) can only access Restricted Data up to the SECRET level.